Increasing the rate of acclimatization in micropropagated plantlets has always been followed by major limitations in the tissue culture technique. In this research, the biohardening using arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, Glomus fasciculatum, was considered to improve the survival and growth of micropropagated plantlets. Savory, (Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad), as an endangered and valuable medicinal species, was used for this purpose. Thus, micropropagated plantlets were inoculated with AM in the soil and some physiological and biochemical parameters were evaluated at 5 stages of their life cycles (0, 15, 30, 60, and 90 days). The root colonization of the plantlets, at the time of transferring to ex vitro conditions, affected the physiological equilibrium, enabled the absorption of more nutritional elements and then contributed to the rapid restoration of plantlets during the acclimatization. It also improved the amount of biomass and nutrient absorption. According to the results, inoculation with AM had significant effects on survival, leaf water potential, total chlorophyll, a, b and carotenoid content, leaf area, biomass, the phosphorus, zinc, copper and potassium content, but there were no significant differences detected among the treatments with respect to the leaf relative water content, soluble sugars and protein. Our results emphasized the need to use AM inoculation in a tissue culture protocol in order to increase the survival and absorption more nutritional elements, growth of this valuable medicinal plant.  

24.2.2019